With each new day, you can guarantee that some very bright people are planning get-togethers designed to have massive impacts for everyone involved. The settings can be musical, artistic, creative, academic or business-focused; these are events you hear about before saying, “that sounds awesome,” and “sign me up.” This actively researched and updated blog series is my answer to helping people learn about ultimate events on a timely basis.

Great things are shaping up, thanks to you and everyone else making plans to participate in the sixth annual #GivingTuesday festivities. This movement began in 2012 as an organized effort dedicated to giving back. As a result, on Tuesday, 28 Nov., charities, families, businesses, community centers, students and others all around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and to give.

With each new day, you can guarantee that some very bright people are planning get-togethers designed to have massive impacts for everyone involved. The settings can be musical, artistic, creative, academic or business-focused; these are events you hear about before saying, “that sounds awesome,” and “sign me up.” This actively researched and updated blog series is my answer to helping people learn about ultimate events on a timely basis.

Follow this link to a list of movies and events not to miss at this year’s New York Film Festival, running through 15 October: http://ew.comRead more

I have a longstanding working relationship with a CEO who recently changed jobs. Coming into his new company, he told me that his mantra was this: He intended to center every marketing initiative around PR strategy. In virtually every industry, I’m seeing many wise marketing industry leaders endorsing this idea. Another prominent example from the past several years comes from Jason Harris of San Francisco- and NYC-based Mekanism, where in an interview with HubSpot.com, he described his agency’s framework for creating shareable content.

“Our approach is to always think about the PR headline. Why will the idea, content, innovation, etc., travel? Why will people care, and why will they want to talk about it and share it? If there is no PR headline, the idea won’t be shareable. That is our goal on every project.”

The video I’m embedding with this article perfectly demonstrates the increasing focus on PR, presenting the 47-minute “Content & Storytelling: Is the PR Landscape Shifting?” session from the 2014 CDO Summit in NYC. Read more

The publishers of Campaign, a leading business media brand serving the marketing, advertising and media communities, offer an editorial on their website entitled “What’s the secret of a long ‘marriage’?” In that, former Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief executive and current CEO of Girl Effect Farah Ramzan Golant offers these wise words: “The key to long-term client relationships is constant reinvigoration…. You should constantly be looking at how you can do things differently, keep freshening the account teams and stay ahead of the game.” As a communications consultant providing ongoing, dedicated counsel to a small roster of clients, I firmly believe in these vows. Among many activities aimed at ongoing education and innovation, I regularly participate in webinars being presented by industry thoughtleaders, adopting the best ideas and lessons into my arsenal. One in particular, presented by five-time published author and entrepreneur Deirdre Breakenridge entitled “Eight Techniques of the New PR Champion,” began paying dividends immediately. Read more

I am very fortunate to have a lot of friends. These days, with the impact of the economy continuing to wreak havoc on many industries and a lot of lives, I’m regularly hearing from many of them who suddenly find themselves unemployed. While this is definitely a scary situation, I stand ready with encouragement and a handful of smart ideas that are proven best bets when it comes to finding great career opportunities. Clearly, Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva(R) has the same mindset. An international authority on branding matters and the author of the best-selling books Brain Tattoos and Brand Turnaround, Karen’s blog post entitled “Puking Pink Slips? Jumpstart your personal brand today” takes my personal rah-rah speech to new heights. Do jump on over to read it, and below, also consider my paraphrased and slightly adjusted listing of her spot-on career-rejuvenating suggestions. Read more

You and your loved ones are cordially invited to join more than a billion of your fellow humans to participate in Earth Day – the only global event celebrated simultaneously by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities – by helping expand its mission into a much more ambitious affair. Read more

With each new day, you can guarantee that some very bright people are planning get-togethers designed to have massive impacts for everyone involved. The settings can be musical, artistic, creative, academic or business-focused; these are events you hear about before saying, “that sounds awesome,” and “sign me up.” This actively researched and updated blog series is my answer to helping people learn about ultimate events on a timely basis.

For years now, career counselors, management consultants, self-help gurus and many others have encouraged us to apply the concepts of brand management to ourselves. For anyone who is beginning this daunting process, just getting going can be a big challenge considering how much advice there is to be found. Bearing that in mind, I wanted to provide some guidance. First, I invite you to check-out the video playlist I’ve embedded above, which will help you get a handle on the main ideas at work here so you can begin applying them to yourself. The playlist also includes several more in-depth presentations, including a complete course in Personal Branding Education.

Below you’ll find several excellent articles that will allow you to get fully up-to-speed. Finally, for a couple of examples of how everything can add up once you’ve successfully applied these lessons, I invite you to check-out the web presence for author Bret Easton Ellis at http://BretEastonEllis.com. On a more personal note, you might also be interested to see http://RKDarnell.com. Read more

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. For 2017, organizers are seizing the occasion to activate us all around the critical goal of being bold for change and taking groundbreaking action that truly drives the greatest change for women.

Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence by taking bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity. Through purposeful collaboration, we can help women advance – and thereby unleash the limitless potential offered to economies the world over. We all have urgent work to do. Are you ready to #BeBoldForChange this International Women’s Day and beyond?